The Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project in Chicago

used their own cars in their work, but there were a half-dozen instances of damage to worker carsin the crossfire of bottle or brick throwing by opposing gang members. In two instances carwindows were shattered by bullets gone astray, but the workers were not injured.All youth workers were supplied with beepers. The field supervisor and assistantsupervisor of youth workers were supplied with cell phones. Beepers were occasionally lost ordamaged, and use of cell phones had to be carefully monitored so that only business oremergency calls were made. Youth workers were required to be on the street at night, onweekends and during times of gang crises. They had no official office space, except for meetingsat the local probation office in Little Village, or at the University of Chicago, which was locatedabout six miles southeast of Little Village. Youth workers were expected to be on the streets oruse local community facilities, such as churches, park department recreation centers, or youthagencies, for meeting with youth for group recreational purposes.Law Enforcement and Probation as Part of the ProjectPolice. Contacts and collaboration with law enforcement developed at different bureaucraticlevels and with varying effect over time. The CPD were fiscally and administrativelyresponsible for the Project. Primary contact with District 10 police in Little Village wasfacilitated by Lt. Chomiak, who introduced the Project Coordinator and R. C. to the 10 th DistrictCommander. The Neighborhood Relations sergeant was assigned to be the half-time coordinatorof the Project, but was given primary responsibility for the development for community policingin the District. A quarter-time police clerical assistant in addition to the two new, young gang3.19